Sheriff's group seeks petition signatures

Association wants to force election on pay negotiation

Nueces County Sheriff's Association members are making a final push to
get residents to sign a collective bargaining petition before a
self-imposed March 16 deadline, association president Elmer Cox said
Wednesday.

Cox said he believes enough registered Nueces County voters have
signed the petition to force an election to decide whether sheriff's
officers can negotiate pay, benefits and other issues as a group with
the Commissioners Court. Cox said an exact number of votes to date have
not been verified. The association needs to turn in to the county
clerk's office at least 3,451 verified signatures, or five percent of
registered voters, Cox said.

The association has been collecting signatures since Sept. 21 and
has until March 16 to add to the petition, Cox said. For every day
signatures are collected after March 16, a day's worth of signatures is
negated starting from Sept. 21, Cox said.

Association members said they are pushing for collective bargaining
for better pay and benefits, compared with Corpus Christi police and
firefighters who have collective bargaining with other law enforcement
groups statewide.

Collective bargaining allows the association to negotiate a contract
with the county. Cox said this is the third time in 10 years the
association has tried to set up a collective bargaining referendum,
with the two previous petitions lacking the necessary signatures.

Sheriff Jim Kaelin said the department supports the association's
efforts.

"I see it as a positive thing to put before voters," Kaelin said.
"If anybody believes staff doesn't need a pay increase, I'd tell them
to come down and work 12 hours in the jail."

Contact David Kassabian at 886-3778 or HYPERLINK
mailto:kassabiand@caller.com kassabiand@caller.com